Russia’s Kislyak defends conversations with Flynn as ‘transparent’

Former Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, a figure at the center of the federal Russia probe, on Saturday defended his past conversations with former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn.

“The communication was completely correct, calm, absolutely transparent,” Kislyak said during a panel discussion on Russian television, Reuters reported. “In any case, there were no secrets on our side.”

Flynn was forced to resign from the White House in February amid revelations that he had discussed U.S. sanctions with Kislyak the month before Trump took office. He also failed to disclose the conversations to senior White House officials and misled Vice President Pence about the contents of the talks.

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Flynn later admitted he may have discussed sanctions with Kislyak. His spokesman said in February that while Flynn “had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn’t be certain that the topic never came up” with Kislyak.

Kislyak, who was recalled to Moscow in June, on Saturday said he and Flynn spoke about only “the most simple things,” including terrorism.

“There are a number of issues which are important for cooperation between Russia and the United States – most of all, terrorism. And that was one of the things we discussed,” he said.

Flynn’s contact with Russian officials prior to the election made him the first person inside the Trump administration targeted as part of an investigation into whether the Kremlin tried to influence the 2016 presidential election in favor of Trump.

The investigation is ongoing and now includes a number of other members of President Trump’s campaign and current administration.